Commonwealth Of Massachusetts,
Executive Department,
Boston, July 16, 1863.
Sir: I have
the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication of the 11th instant, in reply to mine
of the 1st. I should have answered you at once, but have been prevented
from doing so until to-day by absorbing engagements arising from the outbreak
here on the 14th instant.
I regret that any expression of mine should be regarded by
you as unjust, and as the statement in question is not at all material to the
substance of the letter I desire that it may be considered as withdrawn, but
with the explanation that it was made upon the authority of municipal officers
and citizens of Gloucester, the shipping of which town more than any other was
affected by the Tacony, and that it was based by them upon the
assurances of their own shipmasters that, after the Tacony first made
her appearance in the neighborhood of the Vineyard Sound, four days passed,
during which she burned numerous vessels, before Federal cruisers made their
appearance there in pursuit of her. I am glad now to be able, on the authority
of the Department, to assure my informants that, during these four days, more
than twenty vessels of war, of which no less than fourteen were steamers, were
engaged in one direction or another in such pursuit. It was not at all my
intention to deny that any of these vessels had been sent out after the Tacony,
for as to that the sources of information were not open to me. What I was,
however, on the authority of intelligent shipmasters of Gloucester, induced to
believe and to say was that no such armed vessels were sent along this coast
for its protection until after the Tacony had swept the Vineyard Sound.
But any discussion on this point is immaterial to the purpose of my letter of
the 1st instant. It would be profitless to continue it. I am glad to infer from
your statement of the great number of vessels sent in pursuit of the Tacony that
some of them must have been chasing her near the Vineyard Sound during the four
days in question, in which she captured and burned the Gloucester fishermen,
and that therefore the Gloucester people were probably mistaken in their
statements to me, and I beg that my remark may be considered as withdrawn.
The purpose of my letter of the 1st instant was to do my
duty to the State over which I preside, by urging upon the Navy Department
hereafter to guard against such raids as that of the Tacony by
stationing armed vessels along this coast, and particularly within easy reach
of the Vineyard Sound. My fruitless request in that behalf last February, at
the time when the Alabama was reported as in this neighborhood, is perhaps
within your recollection. I was then refused. Later in the year the effort was
renewed by me, and I was assured on May 2 that, expressly for the protection of
this coast, a fast cruiser should be stationed here always prepared for
service. If the knowledge that cruisers are now along the coast is likely to
prevent a repetition of such outrages as that of the Tacony, surely the
same means, if they had been seasonably adopted, would have deterred the Tacony
from appearing here at all. But I have no knowledge that during the six
weeks which passed between the date of May 2 and the date of the appearance of the Tacony in
Vineyard Sound, any fast cruiser was placed here according to the Department's
assurance on the former date.
Believe me, sir, that I am deeply sensible of the
difficulties as well as of the duties of the Navy Department. It is certainly a
difficult duty to guard the Northern coast in addition to blockading the
Southern coast, but certainly also the Department has the ability successfully
to accomplish it and to prevent the recurrence of a day when, for fear of rebel
cruisers, insurance shall be at the rate of 4½ per cent for freight from
Philadelphia to Boston.
I beg in conclusion to forward to you copies of
communications I have received from the selectmen of Provincetown while I have
been writing this letter, and I have the honor to remain,
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
John A. Andrew,
Governor of Massachusetts.
Hon. Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy.
[Enclosure.]
The inhabitants of Provincetown are extremely anxious for a
vessel to be sent to Provincetown for the protection of that harbor, as it is
very much exposed to rebel invasion, they having already threatened to burn the
town. It being at the extreme end of Cape Cod, the harbor is large and
commodious, easy of access, sufficient depth of water for any vessel;
consequently, it at times has 300 or 400 sail of vessels there at one time; and
should a pirate or privateer enter he could destroy the shipping, village, the
Race light, [Long] Point light, and Highland light, as we have no means of
defense whatever. Our harbor is generally known, as there are many fishermen
belonging to British provinces sailing from our town, and have previously
sailed from there, who may now be on board of those piratical vessels already
to pilot them in. They have an inducement to do so, as we have a steam packet
plying between Provincetown and Boston; also a bank from which they might
demand $200,000, more or less.
We therefore pray some vessel of sufficient capacity to
repel any rebel invasion may be sent to our harbor as early as possible, to
give us protection, until some other means are adopted for our protection, by
fortification or otherwise. And not only ours, but for the numerous vessels
seeking shelter in that harbor from other places. The harbor is considered to
be the key of Massachusetts Bay, and one of the best in the United States.
We also pray for 150 or 200 muskets, with the necessary
equipment, that we may be prepared to meet any equal foe that may attempt to
land on the back of our town; also two artillery pieces on carriages and
ammunition sufficient for the same.
John Nickerson,
Robert Soper,
Committee from
Provincetotm.
SOURCE: Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebelion,
Series I, Volume 2, p. 347-8
